Book Review: 'Whaley's Big Adventure' by Alexander Luke

By Savannah Mae, BLOGCRITICS.ORG

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Whaley's Big Adventure is written and illustrated by five-year-old Alexander Luke, and presented by award winning author Carole P. Roman. Alexander comes from a family of independent authors and jumps right in with his creative illustrations of the whales. At only five years old (yes only five!) Alexander captures the essence of the whales in his illustrations better than I ever could!

Children will learn about several different kinds of whales as Whaley swims around in the oceans of the world. Whaley is a blue whale and my son Miles and I learned that the blue whale is the largest whale in existence today. Not only did we learn this, but that there are 40 different kinds of whales swimming around in our oceans. As the book goes on, we learn things like what the whales eat, how large they will grown, and the silly things whales do underwater.

On a funny note, when we were reading about the humpback whale, Miles quickly tossed in "just like me when I repeat over and over." My son quickly identified with the humpback whale, as it is said to sing a song for 10 to 20 minutes and then repeat it for hours.

As a mom, I am excited to re-learn things I studied when I was a kid when I read. Apparently I have forgotten a lot of these details as I have gotten older. To experience them all over again with my almost four year old is exciting for me. Miles was so happy to learn about Whaley, he insisted we read the book about three times in a row. My son is known to memorize his favorite books and recite them since he cannot read independently just yet. Whaley's Big Adventure by Alexander Luke has officially been added to the favorites list.

The most heart-warming part of this publication is Alexander's family and their love for writing shows. For them to extend their publishing efforts to include their five year old, brings exciting opportunities for when Alexander grows up. Illustrating your own book at five years old has got to be one of the exhilarating moments for a child and such a proud moment for a parent during their journey to raise their kids. It is also motivating and encouraging not only to allow our children to dream but to make their dreams come true, one children's book at a time. I look forward to seeing what the innocent mind of Alexander comes up with next to teach us as we grow and learn together.